


Snapshot

by higashino_gai



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Post-Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-19 00:26:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2367518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/higashino_gai/pseuds/higashino_gai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward is happy; and as for Roy, well. There's nothing more he can do but watch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snapshot

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by [UP2L8](http://archiveofourown.org/users/UP2L8), the kindest person in the world.

It was a beautiful picture. 

A little boy and a little girl playing with a little blue ball in a little room of a little house somewhere in a little town down South. True to the ‘all is one’ principle, all these little details completed an image of great joy, and freedom, and happiness. 

Joy was in their striking blonde hair, flying around as the children tossed the ball to each other. The boy’s violent mane was pure gold; the girl’s two heavy ponytails—mellow sunshine. 

Freedom was in their grins, one all teeth and mischief, the other—tease and playfulness. They knew not of leashes and chains, of promises drenched in blood, of choices made at gunpoint; there were no shadows behind their smiles. 

Happiness was in their eyes, two sparkling pairs, one yellow, one blue. They did not carry the fire Roy had once seen in their father’s look: bright and strong, but shaded with loss. That determination, magnificent as it was, stemmed from pain and despair. The children’s eyes were full of light instead; open wide, eager and fearless, they were set to take in everything the world had to offer, and this time the resolve was nurtured by warmth and love. 

The father stood there, bent over the Brigadier General’s desk, waving the snapshot and prattling away in a bizarre combination of baby talk and expletives that only he seemed able to produce. Roy’s gaze slipped from the photo to the man holding it. There was a joyful, free, happy Edward Elric in front of him. Not a dog of military anymore, not bound by someone else’s ambitions, just a man with a dream, a family, a life—something Roy would never be able to give him, not that he would ever dare to try. Roy had no claim to him, and wasn’t that for the best? 

He could not let Edward notice; his eyes darted away. 

It was a beautiful picture, all things considered.


End file.
